I'm a vegan, a long time reader, and a slow but determined runner. I'm a PhD and math professor with a great family and a pack of dogs. Follow me on Facebook at http://facebook.com/zuzubeat or Twitter and Instagram @zuzubeat

I was too ambitious last week, and didn't even dent what I wanted to complete. I've been having headaches, and finally went to the doctor, who laughed at me and said "I know you're hurting, because you NEVER come in." That's true. The last time I went to the doctor was 2+ years ago, when I had pink eye.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to doctors. I go to my lady doctor regularly for check ups. I get my teeth cleaned every 6 months. I'm just mostly healthy, and of the opinion that my body can heal itself.

Anyway, I ended up having to go to the hospital to get some tests done and a CAT scan. Luckily, it isn't a tumor, but something called cluster headaches. They could be caused by seasonal allergies. I've been doing some research, and another trigger for cluster headaches could be hypothalmia, which can cause the brain to swell due to low sodium. My sodium blood count was quite low yesterday, and apparently people who participate in endurance sports (ie. distance running) without replacing sodium are prone to this. The hypothalmia could also explain why I cramped up during my race last week, and also why I've been sleeping so much. I'll be drinking Gatorade this week! In the meantime, though, my doctor told me no running for the next two weeks. :( All of my exercise has to be indoors and easy on the brain (no bouncing or jostling my brain), so I'll be embracing my inner yogi this next two weeks.

Anyway, sorry there weren't pictures from my kitchen and new recipe reviews last week.

This week, I'm going to simplify.

I'm attempting to make simple, few ingredient meals. Yoga or meditation every day. Not running will not only be hard for me, but also for my puppies!

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Rob and I visited Wildwood, NJ for the weekend so I could run the Wilds half marathon. It was our first visit here, generally we go to Ocean City, MD, but we were pleasantly surprised, and will return!

There is only one vegetarian restaurant listed in town, Epicure, but they were not open yet for the season. Not to worry, though, I found plenty to eat! Friday night we found a great little spot called The Wild Burrito. A locally owned modern tex-mex joint, the owner and cook, Joe, is very conscious about ingredients!

This place is very veg-friendly, and BYOB, it should be noted.

Vegan options on the menu included A tofu burrito, BBQ seitan, and avocado fries. We HAD to start with those.

These were served with a chipotle ranch, veg, but not vegan, but I found these to be incredibly tasty with just a bit of hot sauce.

They're rolled in coconut milk, tortilla chips, and plantains. I got the tofu and black bean tortilla, which also came with generous onion and peppers. This was very filling, and inexpensive.

We had a chance to chat with Joe, who, most days, is the sole employee. He has been in business for three years, and this summer will be expanding his vegan menu to include vegan cheese! Not only is Joe a good person, but we found out he is also a runner, and would be running the half on Sunday.

He told us he was hosting an after party after the race, and we promised to return.

For breakfast Saturday morning, we walked a few blocks from our motel to Bagel Time.

I was pleasantly surprised right away by our waitress, Raven's vegan knowledge. She told us that all of their gluten free bagels were vegan, and asked if it was okay that our bagels went through the same toaster!

There were not only many flavors of vegan, gluten free bagels, but there were also options for spreads (tofu, hummus, peanut butter, jelly).

I got the blueberry bagel with pb&j, and Rob got the everything bagel with hummus and roasted red pepper. Then we went halvsies.

The hummus and roasted red pepper was exactly that, a nice, big chunk of pepper on the bagel.

We talked with the owner and chef, Angelo, and he, too, is expanding his vegan options for the summer months. They will soon have a portabella sandwich option on the menu.

On the Boardwalk, there are not too many vegan options, but if you look, there are always tasty finds.

At Capt'n Jacks, not only did they have sweet potato fries and a hummus platter on the menu, their bloody mary mix was vegan. (I've found most bartenders are more than happy to hand you the bottle of mix and let you read the ingredients!) We got the Hummus, and were pleased with the three flavors.

Later on the boardwalk, I noticed a sign for Plantanios Fritos (Fried Plantains!). I ordered them, and was very happy when I saw the gal behind the counter take a fresh Plantain, peel it, slice it, and fry. They even didn't add any salt or flavorings for me- who needs that? They were delicious just as they were.

Before my half marathon in March, I ate vegan pizza the night before- carbohydrate loading, you know? So we went to check out a locally owned brick oven pizzeria, Poppis. This establishment is also BYOB. Apparently, there are a limited number of liquor licenses on the island, so most new businesses are BYOB. I thought it was great! Rob brought in a large beer, and I had a mini-merlot, and they even brought us over an ice bucket to keep things cold!

I ordered a thin crust, cheese-less, mushroom pizza. Our waitress, Bianca, called it a "Tomato pie" which I thought was adorable. She even brought me extra marinara sauce to dip my crusts in. Yum.

Because the pizzas are cooked in a brick oven, they are cooked quickly, and it is traditional to have some black edges. Apparently, that means the center of the pizza is cooked perfectly.

So, after my race, before we left town, we had to stop back by The Wild Burrito. True to his word, Joe was hustling, giving away free tacos and beers! I got the BBQ Seitan tacos, and goodness gracious, those were worth the trip! So very tasty! When I tried to pay Joe for the food, he refused the money. I threw it in the donation bucket instead. At the end of the day, I guess he raised more than $700 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation. Well done!

Monday, May 19, 2014

It was a beautiful course that ran the length of the island, most of which on the boardwalk.

It was our first trip here, but we had a great time. Rob ran the 8k the same day.

Aroud mile 5, I met this fantastic runner, Val, who happens to live very close to the school where I got my teaching start. We ran together until about mile 10, and had lots of fun chatting and sharing stories.

At mile 10, my stomach started to cramp, so I ducked off to a port-a-potty, and walked for a bit.

I finished in 3:19, about 8 minutes slower than my March half,

but I'm still pleased with my results.

For this race, I did not train as hard, or eat as mindfully as I did for March,

but I was still able to finish, and not too poorly.

All in all, we liked Wildwood, and I want to run this again next year. We made a whole weekend of it (I even got a haircut) and enjoyed the town and race support. One of the perks of this race was the amusement park wristbands, so we walked the piers and rode the roller coasters, too!

We took the ferry to DE on the way home and met some fellow vegans on board!

Well, This is a daunting meal plan week! The semester is over, and summer semester starts this week, but I'm only teaching two online courses, so I'm feeling rather free. I'm taking some rest this week, after my half on Sunday. Will continue to do Yoga and Pilates, even though Cari won't be joining me this week! :(

So I pulled out some recipes I want to try.
CK- I'm testing again this week for Cupcakes and Kale
KP HHL- from the book 365 Vegan Smoothies by Kathy Patalsky of Healthy-Happy-Life. I'm starting at page 1, and seeing what happens.
SV- The Sexy Vegan's Happy Hour at Home. These seem perfect for Winesdays. I'd like to try a few of these this summer.
RR PV- Robin Robertson's Party Vegan
ODV- One Dish Vegan, also by Robin Robertson
HHLL- My tried and true, Happy Herbivore Light and Lean

I'm not really sure what we're doing for Memorial Day yet. In years past, we've ridden in the Rolling Thunder ride to DC. We'll see what we do this year!

Otherwise, I'll be working on my Literature Review for my dissertation.

Last week, I was so busy with finals that I didn't stick too well to my meal plan, so there are lots of ingredients still in my fridge, so I'll be improvising with Leftovers rather than buying more groceries.

Rob and I are headed up to NJ this weekend. Thursday is our 4 year wedding anniversary, so we're really looking forward to the trip. I will be running the Wild Half Marathon, and he's going to do the 8k. Wildwood looks like a neat seaside town, and we always have great adventures together.

I'm done giving my finals, I just have a pile of grading to get through early this week, as graduation is on Thursday.

Cari and I are taking some classes at the college this summer, last week I tried out spinning and pilates. This week we will add in yoga.

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Distance running/walking/swimming is perfect for the nerd like me, because it gives me lots and lots of time to think.
I think about solving all the worlds problems.
I think about new verses to songs that haven't been written.
I think about birds and turtles and grass and sky.
I think about numbers. A lot.

What's my pace?
How many laps have I swum, miles have I run, steps have I taken?
I do calculations in my head for hours (I've now swum 1/72 of the laps I need for a mile, I'm now at the 1/4 point in my run...)

So, while I was mulling over all of these numbers in my head the other day, I came across something pretty neat.

Most races are plotted in kilometers. Most Americans think in miles. So we runners are always thinking "Now, how many miles is that?"

For instance, a 5k is estimated at 3.1 miles. Meaning that each mile is approximately 1.6 kilometers.
(5k=3.10686m)

1.6 is very close to my favorite number.

My favorite number is an irrational number that is derived from dividing the sum of 1 and the square root of 5 by 2.

1.618033989

My favorite number is Phi, otherwise known as the Golden Ratio.

The Golden Ratio has long been hailed in art and science as the most beautiful number. It is found in nature in the number of seeds in flowers, the spiral of a sea shell, the branches of a tree, and in pretty much anything we find attractive.

So, thinking about this golden ratio, lead me to thinking about the Fibonacci Sequence, which is based off of this beautiful, irrational number. This sequence is recursive, wherein each subsequent term in the sequence is the sum of the two previous terms.

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144....

Now, let me get back to my running thoughts. I know that 5k≈3miles. Rob is running an 8k next month. 8/1.6= 5miles. Do you see those numbers in the sequence? Cool, right? So now I can estimate that if I was running a 13k, I'd be running approximately 8 miles. Each time I want to compare kilometers to miles, I can just look at the previous term in the sequence.

If I want to compare miles to kilometers I can just go the opposite direction. For instance, if I just passed the two mile mark, I can estimate that I've run 3 kilometers (And I will have, 2m≈3.2k).

Now what about numbers that are not part of the Fibonacci Sequence? That's easy, too. Just look for the sum of terms in the sequence. Like this:

On Friday, I earned a medal for 16k. 16/1.6=10 miles. Let's check it with the sequence: 16=13+3. 13k=8m, 3k=2m. 8+2=10miles. 16k≈9.94m It works!

So now, I have to plan to run for Stations 5 and 6 of the Lost Virtual series, which are 23 and 42k, respectively. How many miles is that?

1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144....

23k=21k+2k

21k=13 miles

2k=1 mile

23k=14 miles according to the sequence

23k≈14.29m

Pretty close!

42k=34k+8k

34k=21 miles

8k=5 miles

42k=26 miles

42k≈=26.1m

Math is Cool. And calculating the Fibonacci Sequence distracts me from mile 10. So it works for everyone!